Why do companies go for one- or two-year release cycles?

For companies like Callaway, Cobra and TaylorMade, you know you are getting a new driver every January. It’s like a clock.

For Srixon and Ping, they also release drivers in January, but they only release a new line every two years, but again, it’s like clockwork.

Then there’s Titleist, which also follows a two-year release cycle for its metalwood lines. The company just started harassing him the upcoming GTS metalwood line with starting a tournament two weeks ago at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. This is earlier than the typical summer launch they have used in their last two cycles.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-hosts Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow talked about why it makes sense for some companies to go to a two-year product cycle and others to a one-year cycle.

While many people on the Internet always claim that there are no significant performance gains for companies releasing a driver every year, Morrow pushed back on that common criticism.

“I think some of the companies that go every year are smart, because I think those companies deliver reps faster,” he said. “And there is a reason for all those omissions.
It’s always one thing they had to release. And a lot of times it’s because that thing leads to the next thing, but they can’t get there unless it’s actually in public.”

But on the other side of the coin is Titleist, which stays behind and can react to the market with its more flexible release cadence.

“Titleist is like the tiger that is sitting in the shadows, just waiting to see what is happening in front of it until they decide that it is ready for their meal, right?” Morrow said. “”And that’s why people are like, why did Titleist go on a release schedule this year? Because they can. Like, because they sat down, they said, okay, we’ve got this, we’re going to do this, we’ve tested this, here’s the update of our thing, how it compares to others. We’ll just sit here and wait until we think it’s ready for the market and people will see benefits from it and then we’ll release it.

“It turns out that this year, it looks like, it’s going to be a little early.”

We still don’t know any technical details behind the new lineup, but 34 GTS drivers were in the game. Valero Texas Openmaking for an impressive two-week conversion rate.

Morrow thought Titleist is probably good for the new GTS, leading to the earlier launch.

But there’s also good pressure on companies’ R&D teams with year-round cycles to constantly innovate.

“You can’t sit down for six months,” Wunder said. “Not that any of these companies, even the two-year launch cycle people, sit back. But when you’re constantly thinking about next year, next year, next year, next year, next year, I know for a fact that Callaway, TaylorMade, all those guys, I guarantee you they’re all 75% cooked into that for 2027, when we’re back in April. You’re going to see unpainted prototype heads on the truck right now.

“It wouldn’t have a name on it. It would be a project name, and you’d see there wouldn’t be any paint on it, but you’d see it and you’d be able to hit it.”